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Quote of the Week – Bryan Alvarez
By Zach Arnold | September 2, 2008
From the land of F4W Online… Bryan opines on what would happen if UFC was the only major player in MMA:
Obviously, such a scenario would be a disaster for anyone outside the top fighters in this country. MMA, like pro-wrestling, needs a strong number-two group. There are a finite number of spots in UFC, and unless you inhabit one of those spots there wouldn’t be anywhere else in this country where you could make a living as a pro fighter. Many of the secondary names in the sport today have been able to quit their jobs and devote themselves full-time to training thanks to sweet deals from various start-ups. Without those deals, many of those fighters would have to get full-time jobs again, which limits the amount of time that can be spent training and would likely result in a lowering in quality of non-UFC fighters. With new talent being the lifeblood of UFC, a depressed independent MMA scene could lead to slim pickings a few years down the road.
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 6 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
One Word: UNION
I have always been in favor of one major organization with a fighter’s union in place to give a check’s and balance’s system that is needed between organization and fighter. I don’t even want to see a union that sucks the UFC dry. Just enough to give some basic fighter rights and make sure a certain level of base pay is obtained amongst multiple level of experienced fighters.
But forget about the fighter’s having full time jobs. With only the UFC around, there just isn’t enough slots for all the top fighters. That isn’t a good thing.
I though managers were suppose to be the middle men? Will a union take over their function and pay cut?
The difference between the UFC and everyone else (with the exception of Strikeforce)is that the UFC has been run like a business, with the goal of turning a profit, not marking out.
“There are a finite number of spots in UFC”
I keep hearing this; why do people keep saying it? The UFC ain’t like the NFL, where a set number of teams have a set number of players. The UFC can get as big as it wants, and develop or buy more spinoff promotions like WEC.
It can’t get too big, not yet. They’re already at critical mass as far as the number of PPV events per year goes, so unless they get a TV deal they won’t be able to hold additional shows.
In fact, they’ve already had to cut 50+ fighters because they had too many guys under contract.
I disagree with Alvarez…in that their will ALWAYS be startup organizations…and those organizations will be allowed to co-exist with the UFC..as long as they don’t try to compete with the UFC directly. Hell how many times has White mentioned the fact that he needs these smaller organizations as training grounds for future UFC fighters.
Also, if Zuffa really wanted to…they could always use the WEC as their own minor league farm system if you will.
IceMuncher: I recognize there is a limit to how big the UFC can be at any given time, but that limit is exactly the size of the top-level MMA market, which means they can hold as many top fighters as there is market for. There is no reason to wail about the loss of spots for fighters in other promotions, if those promotions didn’t have the market to support those fighters anyway.